"You've got guys out there who are pushing people off the track and our stewards deem that to be legal. This is a consequence of a new driving prosecutor, I guess," said Winterbottom, who believed he was also taken out by Whincup in Saturday's opener.

Courtney and Lowndes were battling for second when Lowndes moved past on the outside only for Courtney to make slight contact, forcing the pair to spin into the wall. Winterbottom's Falcon was taken out as a consequence.

"We could have easily have avoided it had [Lowndes] given me some room, but he cut me off," said Courtney. Lowndes said he expected the incident to be investigated.

Whincup eventually beat home the Holdens of Lee Holdsworth and Cameron McConville, who finished second and third respectively.

Reigning Holden champion Garth Tander struggled again, following up his 23rd on Saturday with 19th before unleashing at Courtney.

"The way Courtney was going, I wasn't surprised to see him in a huge shunt at the end," Tander said. "He was out of control all race.

"I clipped Steven Johnson and while I was waiting for him to gather it up, Courtney pushed his way through and ripped the front off my car. Somebody obviously forgot to tell him it was 78 laps, not seven or eight." McConville was emotional on the podium, saying the result was a huge relief after a couple of difficult years. "How the hell did that happen? How did I get second in the queue?" he said.

The highly successful event attracted a record crowd of 291,400 over the four days.

Meanwhile, V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane announced a raft of changes to the series today, including the Phillip Island 500 becoming the lead-up to the Bathurst 1000 for the next ten years.

And from next year, every car in the championship will be powered by E85 fuel - an 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent petrol blend - in a bid to be the "trendsetters" in running an environmentally friendly series.